Deal: Jaybird Freedom Sprint Bluetooth headset only $39
Good Bluetooth headphones are hard to come around, especially at a good price. Of course, there’s the $30 Aukey earbuds we recommended as Father’s Day present, but some of you may be looking for something a bit more high-end. Popular deals site Daiy Steals is currently offering the Jaybird Freedom Sprint Bluetooth headset for only $39!
Do keep in mind the MSRP for these headphones is $100, and it’s currently being sold on Amazon for $65, so getting them for $39 is truly a… steal. By the way, these are new, unlike most other good deals at these deal sites, which are usually refurbished. It comes with the 1-year warranty and all.
The headphones come with “premium audio performance”, 114dB sensitivity and a 20Hz-20kHz frequency range. The earbuds should sound pretty great for the price, to be honest, and they are actually quite resourceful as an accessory too. These bad boys feature on-ear controls, a sweat resistant design, flat chords for tangling control and Bluetooth connectivity (of course).
Battery life could be better, as it only offers about 4.5 hours of talk time (and 250 hours of standby time), but keep in mind these are tiny, which is something you may give more priority to.
We have seen previous deals for this specific headset from the same website, but the Jaybird Freedom Sprint costed $59 last time we checked. They really hit the ball out of the park this time. We can’t exactly attest to their quality, but we did review the Jaybird BlueBuds X, which proved to be quite good. Granted, the BlueBuds headphones are a higher-end model, but at least we know the manufacturer is good at what they do, and the Freedom Sprint headset can’t be much worse with a $100 MSRP.
You should sign up for these soon if you are interested. Daily Steals offers tend to have a limited quantity of products, and the deal will only stay up for 5 more days. Are you getting a pair?
Tacos, burritos and unicorn emoji are coming, thanks to Unicode 8.0
The Unicode Consortium unveiled its new emoji set as part of the standard’s version 8.0 update on Wednesday. Yes, that taco emoji we’ve all been waiting for on bated breath has arrived and lo, it is glorious. Other food-related icons include taco’s big brother, the burrito, as well as a hot dog, popcorn and a cheese wedge. Inedible emoji like a Unicorn head, prayer beads and a volleyball are also available. Surprisingly though, no hotdog pizza emoji just yet — probably because we’re not sure yet if they’re ok for human consumption.
In all, 37 new icons (41 if you count the five skin color modifiers) made it past the consortium’s stringent vetting process. You can check out the full list, which will eventually make their way into your mobile device’s keyboard. While Apple already jumped ahead and put the skin color modifiers in iOS and OS X, it hasn’t updated with the rest of 8.0’s emoji changes, and neither have Android or Windows. The Unicode standards group is already at work on version 9.0, which is scheduled for release in 2016. Proposed icons include avocado, shrug, owl, selfie and everybody’s favorite taco topping: bacon.
[Image credit: Getty Images/Science Photo Library]
Filed under: Internet, Mobile, Apple, Microsoft, Google
Source: Unicode Consortium, Unicode (blog)
BlackBerry 10 phones get the Amazon Appstore in the US
If you’re a BlackBerry-toting American, you’re about to get a ton of Android apps on your plate. As promised, BlackBerry has started the US rollout of an update that gives all BB10 devices access to the Amazon Appstore, saving you from having to sideload some of the Android titles you can’t live without. You’ll also get better anti-theft protection and a “fresh look” that includes faster access to common tasks.
Just when you get your upgrade is a bit of a toss-up. On AT&T, you’re first in line if you’re carrying the older BlackBerry Q10 or Z10; on T-Mobile and Verizon, you’re at the start of the queue if you’re rocking a BlackBerry Classic. Every other BlackBerry 10 device in the country will receive the new software eventually, though, so don’t worry if your Z30 isn’t part of the initial wave.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Amazon, Verizon, AT&T, Blackberry, T-Mobile
Source: Inside BlackBerry
FCC proposes $100 million fine of AT&T
The FCC announced today a proposed $100 million fine of AT&T over allegations the carrier was improperly throttling data speeds for unlimited plan customers and in particular that the company failed to adequately disclose the throttling consumers may face. The plans in question were offered between 2007 and 2010 by AT&T. Although the carrier no longer offers unlimited data plans, subscribers who had such a plan could continue to renew them. The FCC contends AT&T falsely labeled plans subject to the company’s maximum bit rate policy as unlimited and failed to adequately inform customers of the maximum speeds they would have available.
As part of their announcement, the FCC revealed that they have received thousands of complaints related to this one issue. Their investigation showed the affected customers could number into the millions and the customers affected were typically impacted by the slower speeds for an average of 12 days each billing cycle. In addition to extensive period of time customers were impacted by the throttling, the FCC also claims those impacted saw their speeds slowed down even more than what typical subscribers experienced. The throttling was so bad that the FCC characterized the service as
“significantly impeding their ability to use common data applications such as GPS mapping or streaming video.”
In the words of the FCC, “unlimited means unlimited” and AT&T’s throttling deceived customers.
AT&T has responded to the announcement with the following statement,
“We will vigorously dispute the FCC’s assertions. The FCC has specifically identified this practice as a legitimate and reasonable way to manage network resources for the benefit of all customers, and has known for years that all of the major carriers use it. We have been fully transparent with our customers, providing notice in multiple ways and going well beyond the FCC’s disclosure requirements.”
Sources have noted that the FCC appears to be hanging their hat on the disclosure requirements of the 2010 Open Internet Transparency Rule as opposed to the actual act of throttling data speeds itself.
Come comment on this article: FCC proposes $100 million fine of AT&T
Hearthstone gets new Tavern Brawl mode
Combining the play of a card battle game with the universe of World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment brought Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft to mobile devices as yet another outlet for gamers. To help spice things up a bit, Blizzard recently updated the title to include a new “Tavern Brawl” mode. The new mode will present users with a repeating event each week pitting them against another player in a special game. Although the event will repeat each week, that is about all that players will be able to rely on. Blizzard indicates rules for the weekly events will change every week, so players will have no idea what kind of challenge they may face.
In addition to the new Tavern Brawl mode, Hearthstone players may notice they also have a new group of heroes available. They do require an in-app purchase of $9.99 per hero, but give players the ability to add the warrior, Magni Bronzebeard; the hunter, Alleria Windrunner; or the mage, Medivh.
If you are interested in checking out Hearthstone or need to grab the update to get the new Tavern Brawl mode, hit the download link below.
source: Android Central
Come comment on this article: Hearthstone gets new Tavern Brawl mode
Material Design themes coming to the Samsung Galaxy S6
There’s quite a bit of reasons to love the Samsung Galaxy S6, but some of you may be especially fond of the integrated theme engine. Any user can easily change the look and feel of a Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge in a heartbeat, something that used to take launchers and complicated root methods in the past.
TouchWiz continues to be a bit messy, though, even with themes making it much better to deal with. We know many of you love the look and feel Google has created with material Design and the Pure Google experience. Those who are proud members of this club (which is not very exclusive) will be happy to learn you will soon no longer need to go for a third-party launcher or rooted phone in order to enjoy the simplicity of a clean Android experience.
XDA Developers member cambunch has created a Material Design-inspired theme for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. It was submitted to Samsung and accepted, so the theme will be offered by the official Samsung Theme Store. It should show up in no more than about two weeks. Don’t want to wait around? The developer did publish instructions for installing the themes manually (though you will actually need root to do that).
The theme actually comes in two versions: dark and light. As you can assume, this refers to the color pallet used for the theme. It’s the whole deal, too. These themes will change your notification bar, settings, wallpaper, icons, keyboard and other stock apps. It will pretty much get rid of most signs of TouchWiz, which is always a plus for us Android purists.
Do we have any Samsung Galaxy S6 users excited to check these themes out?
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‘Yoshi’s Woolly World’ is the video game equivalent of a hug
I am not what you would call a “hardcore gamer.” I don’t enjoy shooters; I don’t have the time for RPGs; and my last dance with open-world gameplay was a 45-minute joyride through the faux-LA of Grand Theft Auto V. But, oh, do I love me some Yoshi’s Woolly World. The upcoming, cutesy Wii U title, due out this Fall, has a shared DNA. It’s a hodgepodge of past Yoshi’s Island games and the Wii title Kirby’s Epic Yarn. That last bit of pedigree makes complete sense when you consider that the game’s being developed by Good-Feel, the very same studio behind the aformentioned Kirby title.
Yes, the beauty of Yoshi’s Woolly World lies in its stunning, yarn-spun aesthetic, but the same can be said for the gameplay. As with most of Nintendo’s beloved franchises, the mechanics feel familiar, though not stale. When I demoed the title at the company’s E3 booth, I was able to immediately pick up and play without any coaching from the nearby rep — a factor CEO Satoru Iwata said the company would be stressing with the majority of its games.
For those not well-acquainted with the series, Yoshi’s Woolly World replaces the eggs that’ve long trailed Yoshi for balls of yarn. With the help of a wandering cursor, triggered by depressing the ZR button, players can set the angle of attack with ‘Y’ and let loose a yarn ball attack. This results in delightful animations, like a thread encircling and sealing shut the mouth of a piranha plant. Of course, players can always default to either jumping atop enemies or using Yoshi’s tried-and-true elastic tongue to suck them in and “transform” them (through digestion) into additional yarn balls.
It bears repeating that the game, unlike Star Fox Zero, is gorgeous. Nintendo’s Wii U may not be on par with the silicon juggernauts that are the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but the art style of Yoshi’s Woolly World more than makes up for it. The environments, characters and enemies all have a storybook quality and truly look as if they were spun from yarn, replete with telltale frayed threads.
The game also includes helpful support in the form of amiibo. By placing the made-from-yarn Yoshi amiibo on the GamePad’s NFC receiver, players can add a duplicate Yoshi into the world; one that’ll mimic your every movement. You can even ingest this amiibo Yoshi for an extra ball of yarn should you need it. What’s more, the game also supports a handful of other amiibo that’ll give your in-game Yoshi a makeover. So, for example, if you tap a Fox McCloud amiibo on the GamePad, Yoshi will adopt a Star Fox-themed look. It’s a thoughtful touch that should lend the game extra appeal and also give amiibo collectors something to do with all those figurines.
Yoshi’s Woolly World’s visual appeal is both a blessing and a curse. It runs the risk of condemning the game to a kiddie corner when, in actuality, the game boasts some difficult platforming elements. If you own a Wii U or plan on picking one up in the near future, you won’t want to miss this adorable spin on the platformer.
[Images: Nintendo]
‘Final Fantasy VII’: The challenge of remaking a classic
Almost 20 years later, Final Fantasy VII is being remade. It’s no prequel, sequel, gamified Advent Children thing. It’s a proper darn remake. The short trailer shown first at PlayStation’s E3 2015 event was fairly obtuse — we don’t even get to see the protagonists’ face, but there’s still a lot of excited people. A whole lot. How do you break the mold without breaking hearts? With some translation assistance, we asked its producer, Tetsuya Nomura, all about it.
After announcing that the PC version of FFVII was coming to PS4, why announce the remake now?
Tetsuya Nomura: The PC port, honestly, wasn’t really on my radar. I thought it was already on sale. Regardless, there’s really no relation between the PC version and this remake. Why now? This week at E3 we announced several titles coming to the PS4: not only FFXV, Kingdom Hearts 3, and World of Final Fantasy, but [also] a new Star Ocean and more. Rather than announce the remake after those titles went on sale, we wanted to give gamers something that would make them happy — open them up, perhaps, to buying into the PS4.
You’ve called it a remake, but what’s going to change? Will the story change?
TN: Hah! Well, that’s something that literally… [He gestures to his open laptop].
The trailer was vague; it felt like it could well be a sequel, or even a prequel.
TN: That’s exactly why I wanted to have the word “Remake” into the trailer — precisely to clarify that. At this point, I can’t talk to specifics. Or at least, I’m not allowed to talk about the specifics. But the original is out again: The “HD” PC version is coming to PS4 already. We don’t need two of the same thing. Even if we beautified and upgraded the visuals — something that’s bound to happen. If it’s a full remake, then of course, we want to take a different approach. If we actually just upgraded the visuals — there’d be no need for me to direct it.
“We don’t need two of the same thing.”
Well, I can’t honestly say. But things will change.
Just the price?
TN: [Laughs] We can’t comment on pricing. We haven’t even mentioned the true title of the remake.
Is there a comparable remake in gaming, movies?
TN: If I say anything, then that could reveal too much. If I say, “It’s a bit like this,” you’ll suddenly think: “Ah well, then that’s going to turn out just like that.” In the trailer, at the end, I try to reference that: “The reunion at hand may bring joy, but it may bring fear. But let us embrace whatever it brings.”
People will wonder how far the game will change and exactly what is going to change. Sure, at first there’s the joy that the game’s returning, but then the concern that what you liked in the original may change or disappear completely. People have different demands. But if we take everything literally the same, we’re turning into the HD port again.
So you could flip the genders of say, Yuffie?
TN: Nothing that drastic! But there will be changes. More than me, [Producer Yoshinori] Kitase and [scenario writer Kazushige] Nojima are more concerned about what gets changed. I’m not too worried about that. I’m often happy to cut out parts. Before meetings, the pair of them often discuss what’s happening. It’s very likely that not everyone is going to like everything.
The trailer seemed pretty serious in tone. Will the occasional humor the original game carry through?
TN: The comedy or the lighthearted parts — I like those. I don’t want to change it that much. But we can’t have these upgraded, beautiful 3D models of Cloud and Barrett, still lining up in a row, jumping forward to attack an enemy, then jumping back to wait for their next turn. That would be bizarre. Of course there will likely be changes there. But if we took away parts like the lighter moments of the game, then it would no longer be FFVII.
Check here for everything happening at E3 2015!
Filed under: Gaming
Windows 10 streams Xbox 360 games to Oculus, too
You read that headline correctly. With the Xbox 360 to Windows 10 game streaming out in the open, it stood to reason that you’d be able to play your collection of games from Microsoft’s second Xbox on the Oculus Rift too. We asked the virtual reality company if that was indeed the case and a spokesperson confirmed that indeed it was. So, Mass Effect in VR? That’s a definite.
[Image credit: pabuk/Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Android Wear update for the Moto 360 to Android 5.1.1 is rolling out from today
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Despite being the most popular of the Android Wear devices, the Motorola Moto 360 is the last to get its update to Android 5.1.1. Motorola admitted a few weeks ago that the update was delayed due to some performance issues, however that seems to have been dealt with after Google’s Wayne Piekarski confirmed that the Android Wear update for the Moto 360 to Android 5.1.1 is rolling out from today. Of course, with any update issued over-the-air, don’t expect your device to be updated straight away – it could take days or weeks for your smartwatch to be updated depending on the rate of the roll-out.
For those who aren’t sure what will be included in the Android 5.1.1 update, here’s a nice summary provided by Droid-life:
- Always-on screen, always-on apps: Most Android Wear watches include an always-on screen—no tapping, twisting or shaking required to see what time it is. Now we’re expanding this option to apps, so they can stay visible as long as you need them, instead of disappearing when you drop your arm. Perfect for running, navigating, or grocery shopping!
- New launcher & Wrist gestures: Now you can access your apps and contacts by simply swiping left from the watch face. Android Wear also now responds to specific navigation gestures so you can scroll between cards with a simple flick of the wrist. Learn more with our YouTube video.
- Draw emojis: In response to texts, instant messages, or emails, you can now send emojis to your contacts by drawing them on your watch screen. The watch will recognize the emoji you drew and send it via whichever messaging app you’re using. Give it a try by selecting “Draw emoji” whenever you’re replying to a message!
- Heads-up notifications: Incoming notifications like text messages will now appear on-screen even when you’re looking at something else on your watch, like directions or fitness stats, so you won’t miss anything important.
- Switching watches made easier: The Android Wear companion app now lets you pair your phone with more than one watch at a time – ideal for swapping watches to match your style.
- Change your font size: Want to see more text on your watch screen? Or less? You can now adjust the font size from your watch’s settings.
- Lock your watch’s screen: Want to lock your watch’s screen when you’re not wearing it? Turn on the new “Screen lock” feature from your watch’s settings. When enabled, if your watch detects you’re not wearing it (or it loses the connection to your phone) for a period of time, then your specified swipe pattern will be required to unlock it.
If you get the update, let us know in the comments below.
Source: Google+ via Droid-life
The post Android Wear update for the Moto 360 to Android 5.1.1 is rolling out from today appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
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